$400,000 in grants awarded at 14th World Conference on Tobacco or Health in Mumbai, India for extraordinary progress in Nigeria, Mexico City, Panama and Thailand

09 Mar 2009

Mumbai, India – Bloomberg Philanthropies today announced four recipients of the 2009 Bloomberg Awards for Global Tobacco Control at the 14th World Conference on Tobacco or Health in Mumbai, India.

The awards were created this year to recognize governments and non-governmental organizations in low- and middle-income countries that demonstrate extraordinary achievement in the implementation of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) MPOWER policies regarding tobacco control.

The awards included $400,000 in grants and were given by the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, which was established in 2006 by Michael R. Bloomberg.  

Patricia E. Harris, a representative of Bloomberg Philanthropies, who is also First Deputy Mayor of the City of New York, presided over the awards ceremony, which was attended by representatives from governments and tobacco control organizations from more than 30 countries.

“Through MPOWER, we have proven methods for how to greatly reduce smoking and save millions of lives worldwide, and need organizations with the will and dedication to implement them.” said Michael R. Bloomberg.  “I applaud the award recipients for their extraordinary commitment to confronting the tobacco epidemic – the most important public health effort of our time.”

The Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use was established in 2006 and includes a $375 million commitment over six years to combat the global tobacco epidemic. Modeled after internationally proven strategies and the policies that worked in New York City where Mr. Bloomberg is Mayor, the Initiative supports government and non-governmental projects and policies that reduce tobacco use and save lives.  

This includes increasing tobacco taxes, changing the image of tobacco, protecting nonsmokers from exposure to other people’s smoke and helping people quit.  The six components of MPOWER are:

• Monitor tobacco use and the policies to prevent it
• Protect people from tobacco smoke
• Offer people help to quit tobacco use
• Warn about the dangers of tobacco
• Enforce bans on tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship
• Raise taxes on tobacco

The four award winners are as follows:  

Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FOEN) for monitoring and publicizing tobacco industry activities intended to increase tobacco use and undermine tobacco control efforts.  ERA/FOEN has monitored and exposed the marketing activities of the tobacco industry, and it has faced the industry’s numerous attempts to undermine tobacco control policies in Nigeria head-on by exposing the front groups used by the industry to carry out its activities. It has also highlighted unfair practices towards tobacco farmers and indifference to child labor.

The award for excellence in monitoring was accepted by Mr. Akinbode Oluwafemi, Programme Manager, ERA/FOEN.  “Sadly, Africa is the newest frontier for tobacco companies.” Mr. Oluwafemi said.  “Tobacco companies have mapped out the tender lungs of our youth and women as enormous profit opportunities. This is what ERA/FOEN is dedicated to resisting.”

Mexico City Federal District Secretary of Health for protecting people from the dangers of tobacco smoke by providing essential political commitment to the recent passage of comprehensive smoke-free air legislation in Mexico City.  Completely smoke-free environments are the only proven way to protect people adequately from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke. One of the biggest victories in the tobacco control movement this year was the passage of a local law that made Mexico City, the largest city in the Americas, smoke free. The local Congress approved the first law in Mexico to completely ban the consumption of tobacco in enclosed environments. Moreover, the law was enacted one day after the publication of the bylaw; all enclosed public spaces in Mexico City became 100% smoke free. Compliance is reported to be excellent.

The award for protecting people from tobacco smoke through comprehensive smoke-free legislation was accepted by Dr. Armando Ahued, Secretary of Health, Mexico City Federal District Secretary of Health. “To fight tobacco use, the will and work of Legislators of the Legislative Assembly, of health and education offices of the City Government, of civil society and a large number of businessmen were coordinated, putting the precious gift of health before any other kind of interests, to amend and enforce the Non-smokers health protection act,” said Dr. Ahued.

Action on Smoking and Health Thailand (ASH Thailand) for warning people about the dangers of tobacco by providing extensive support to the revision of Thailand’s health warnings, ensuring that they were as strong as possible. ASH Thailand helped the government ensure that pack warnings were effective; in particular, that the warnings were present on both sides of the pack – a critical component in guaranteeing that smokers actually see the warnings.  Warning labels on tobacco packs are a cost-effective method of public education about the dangers of tobacco use. Providing direct health messages to tobacco users as well as to non-users who see the packs can be implemented at virtually no cost to the government.

The award for excellence in pack warning labels was accepted by Dr. Prakit Vathesatogkit, Executive Secretary of ASH Thailand.  “We had to take pictures of real patients suffering from smoking-related diseases in the hospital ward,” said Dr. Vathesatogkit. “We tested these both with smokers and nonsmokers and chose the most effective ones.  We are very happy to share our pictures with any country who would like to use them. As for our next goal, we are awaiting the opportunity to push for plain packaging regulations for cigarette packs.”

Coalicion Panameña contra el Tabaquismo (COPACET) for implementation and enforcement of bans on tobacco advertising, sponsorship and promotion.  COPACET, a non-governmental organization, ensured that the ban on tobacco advertising and sponsorship in Panama was comprehensive, including restriction at the point of sale of tobacco – a critical component of this type of law which has been difficult for many countries to pass. The tobacco industry spends tens of billions of dollars worldwide each year on advertising, promotion and sponsorship; and therefore, a comprehensive ban on every form of marketing tobacco products is a key component of tobacco control. Comprehensive advertising, promotion and sponsorship bans are highly effective in reducing smoking among people of all income and educational levels.

The award for implementation and enforcement of bans was accepted by Dr. Nelyda Gligo, Director, COPACET.  “I urge all those countries that have not obtained a law yet, not to lose heart, to continue working and defending the health of their people with strong and scientific arguments, as this is how victory is achieved,” said Dr. Gligo.

Each award winner received a grant of $100,000 from Bloomberg Philanthropies to intensify their work in tobacco control.  Nominations and selection for the Bloomberg Awards for Global Tobacco Control were completed by a panel of international experts.   

About The Bloomberg Initiative

• The Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, established in 2006 with a $125 million commitment, was extended in July 2008 with a new $250 million, four-year commitment.

• The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced in July 2008 that it would invest $125 million over five years to fight the tobacco epidemic, including a $24 million grant directed through the Bloomberg Initiative
• The Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use supports public sector and civil society efforts to implement proven strategies in tobacco control in low- and middle-income countries, particularly China, India, Indonesia, Russian Federation, and Bangladesh.
• The Bloomberg Initiative supports training programs, journalism workshops, in-country development of mass media public education campaigns, capacity building, and global monitoring through a WHO report on country-specific tobacco control policies and a population-based house-to-house adult survey of tobacco use prevalence. One aspect of the Bloomberg Initiative is to provide tobacco control funds to low- and middle-income countries through a competitive grants program; more than 178 grants have been awarded in 38 countries. 

• The Initiative has successfully supported: the launch of the WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic 2008; release of comprehensive tobacco economics papers (including reports on Indonesia, China, Bidis in India, Affordability of Tobacco, and Regressivity) with more scheduled to be released soon; development and placement of hard-hitting mass media campaigns in Turkey, Mexico, China, India, and Russia; extensive high-quality training (including training of journalists and tobacco control experts via an on-line modular tobacco control course); and WHO-lead capacity assessments of tobacco control programs in Brazil, Thailand, and Turkey.
• The Bloomberg Initiative supports in-country action in tobacco control through coordination, technical assistance, and provision of financial resources. Recent advances in tobacco control in low- and middle-income countries include: Beijing Smoke-free Olympic Games in 2008; passage of a national comprehensive smoke-free regulation in India; Russia signs the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control; Guatemala passes a comprehensive smoke-free law, furthering the success of Mexico City’s smoke-free law the previous year and Uruguay's success the year before, and demonstrating a growing smoke-free movement in Latin America; Turkey passes a comprehensive tobacco control law in January 2008 and early implementation, compliance, and public support has been high; Ukraine bans outdoor tobacco advertising; and Thailand extends its smoke-free regulations, making restaurants, bars, and taxis smoke-free.
• The Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use is implemented though five partner organizations: the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Foundation, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the World Health Organization and the World Lung Foundation.